Nurses are perceived as the most ethical and trustworthy professionals in the US, with medical doctors not fairing too badly, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Unsurprisingly, politicians have much work ahead to regain public trust. An ever greater uphill battle involves nursing home operators, who were ranked below newspaper reporters and barely above lawyers.

Unfortunately the poll did not include pharmaceutical or biotechnology professionals, although druggist/pharmacists ranked well falling just below grade-school teachers and above military officers. It appears the doctor-patient relationship is not as damaged and/or plagued by feelings of distrust as many claim, a helpful piece of information given that clinical trials usually involve doctors and nurses.

It would have been interesting to see bioethicists included in the below rankings. I would like to know how ethical our ethicists appear; perhaps a future project for Bioethics International. The results for the 22 professions tested are listed below.